The last month has been warm and rainless. The first tomatoes are ripening. Slava was first, starting July 12. New Hampshire Surecrop was second. However, the Surecrop seeds were saved from last year, and I just learned that the variety is a hybrid. Oviously, theyhave not bred true since the original was a late variety with 5 inch fruits, whereas what I have now is early with 1.5 inch fruit – maybe reverted to wild mexican ancestor.
The dryness has suppressed weed germination, so the garden is nearly weed-free. Aggressive irrigation by flooding the paths between rows has promoted growth of the deeply rooted vegetables without germinating the weed seeds at the surface.
I have harvested about half of the potatoes. They are small because of the drought, but really healthy. The space vacated by harvested potatoes has been planted with root vegetables (carrot, parsnip, salsify, beets).
I have had a bumper crop of shelling peas, starting 2 weeks ago and continuing today.
The dryness has suppressed weed germination, so the garden is nearly weed-free. Aggressive irrigation by flooding the paths between rows has promoted growth of the deeply rooted vegetables without germinating the weed seeds at the surface.
I have harvested about half of the potatoes. They are small because of the drought, but really healthy. The space vacated by harvested potatoes has been planted with root vegetables (carrot, parsnip, salsify, beets).
I have had a bumper crop of shelling peas, starting 2 weeks ago and continuing today.